11 Days Highlights of Myanmar

About the destination: Yangon, formerly Rangoon, was the capital of Myanmar until it was superseded by Naypyidaw in November 2005. Today, with a population of over 5 million people, it remains the largest city and main economic hub of Myanmar. The city is an amalgamation of British, Burmese, Chinese and Indian influences, and is known for its colonial architecture, which although decaying, remains an almost unique example of a 19th-century British colonial capital. The Shwedagon Pagoda or Paya is the single most important religious site in all of Myanmar and is an interesting place for tourists. The Shwedagon captures the essence of both the informal nature as well as the strong ties that signify the relationship that the Burmese have with their Buddhism. There is no other pagoda like it in Burma and there is no other place like the Shwedagon Pagoda in the world. Yangon has been a cosmopolitan city with a polyglot mixture of peoples from its early days and has a friendly and welcoming attitude towards strangers.

About the destination: Bagan is an ancient city located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2,200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day. The Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main attraction for the country's nascent tourism industry. It is seen by many as equal in attraction to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

About the destination: Mandalay is the second largest city in Burma, and a former capital of Myanmar. The city is the economic and religious hub of upper Myanmar and is centered on the Royal Palace. It has wide lanes filled with bicycles and motorcycles and is known for its cultural diversity. The Mandalay Palace is a golden city within a city and was King Mindon’s centre of glory. Today is a truly magnificent palace complex. One thousand seven hundred steps uphill will give you a bird’s-eye view of the city, the outlying areas of the Ayeyarwady plains and the misty Shan hills- a spectacular sight Fascinating and interesting sights along the way include colorful souvenir stalls, the Pershewar Relics, possibly the world’s only authentic bones of Buddha and the gold-plated Shweyattaw Buddha of immense size. The Kuthodaw Pagoda was built by King Mindon in 1857. Within its premises may be found what is popularly known as "The World’s Largest Book" - the complete Buddhist Scriptures inscribed on 729 upright stone slabs surrounding the pagoda.

About the destination: Inle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900 feet (880 m). Although the lake is not large, it contains a number of endemic species. Over twenty species of snails and nine species of fish are found nowhere else in the world. In June 2015, it became Myanmar's first designated place of World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers. Transportation on the lake is traditionally by small boats, or by somewhat larger boats fitted with single cylinder inboard diesel engines. Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved out of necessity as the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants, making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.